Jurgen Klopp Once Said He'd Never Spend £100 Million On One Transfer

Jurgen Klopp looks set to spend €100 million on signing Darwin Nunez, but he'll never sign a player for £100 million, as he claimed six years ago.

The impact Klopp has had on Liverpool since joining them in 2015 is quite remarkable, turning them into one of the best teams in the world, and within two wins of the quadruple.

He has done it by signing well and improving players, all to play in his system and making sure players know what their role is, often spending far less than his rivals.

The Premier League runners up do look set to smash their transfer record in the next few days however, with talk that Nunez could make his move from Benfica shortly.

Liverpool will reportedly spend €80 million upfront and an extra 20 million on add ons, meaning he will end up costing around £10 million more than Virgil van Dijk.

It's quite the outlay for Klopp, especially considering he was so against spending £100 million back in 2016, ahead of Manchester United spending €105 million on Paul Pogba.

"If you bring one player in for £100m and he gets injured, then it all goes through the chimney," the German said at the time.

"The day that this is football, I'm not in a job anymore, because the game is about playing together.

"That is how everybody in football understands it. You always want to have the best, but building the group is necessary to be successful.

Nunez is expected to sign for Liverpool. Image: Alamy

"Other clubs can go out and spend more money and collect top players. I want to do it differently. I would even do it differently if I could spend that money.

"I don't know exactly how much money we could spend because nobody has told me, 'No, you can't do this'.

"If I spend money, it is because I am trying to build a team, a real team. Barcelona did it. You can win championships, you can win titles, but there is a manner in which you want it."

Pogba's transfer wasn't one Klopp would have done. Image: Alamy

Whilst the move for Nunez wouldn't breach Klopp's price in pounds, it is worth noting that neither did Pogba's, even though the Frenchman did cost United more than Nunez will.

The 22-year-old's arrival will also make him the fourth most expensive player to move to a Premier League club, behind only Jack Grealish, Romelu Lukaku and Pogba.

Whilst Liverpool's net spend does tend to be lower than the likes of Manchester City, United and Chelsea, Klopp already has the second most expensive defender ever, in Van Dijk, who was the most expensive when he signed him, and the same for goalkeepers, with Alisson's record being broken by Kepa Arrizabalaga.

Back in 2016 Klopp also said he wanted to sign players away from everyone else's targets, saying, "If you all swim in the same pool, the pool is too small - you all go for the same players.

"There are a lot of players outside that pool - good players on to the next step in their career. We try to find them."

Before his soon to be signing was in the Reds' crosshairs, it looked like Nunez would be signing for United, whilst January's move for Luis Diaz happened only after Tottenham Hotspur looked certain to get the Colombian.

Topics: Liverpool, Transfers, Darwin Núñez, Premier League, Jurgen Klopp, Benfica

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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